The only way NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could be more despised in New Orleans is if he changed his first name to Katrina. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)

Sometimes you get the feeling NFL commissioner Roger Goodell couldn’t win a popularity contest in his own den.

In the run-up to Super Bowl week there have already been constant reminders that New Orleans is welcoming him with open distaste.

Now, in a poll conducted by USA Today, it appears the players wouldn’t trust him with their jobs. The poll shows that 61% of 300 active players disapprove of Goodell’s operation of league affairs.

Most of the players who disapproved cited his handling of player safety issues, primarily the increase in fines for hits. They also didn’t approve of the commissioner’s role in the league’s investigation and discipline of the Saints’ bounty program.

The poll was anonymous, but Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, an outspoken critic of Goodell, told the newspaper, “I think it’s obvious that I disapprove.”